“So it is with minds. Unless you keep them busy with some definite subject that will bridle and control them, they throw themselves in disorder hither and yon in the vague field of imagination … and there is no mad or idle fancy that they do not bring forth in the agitation.”

―

Michel de Montaigne

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“Have you noticed that even the busiest people are never too busy to take time to tell you how busy they are?”

―

Bob Talbert

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Well. I don’t care what you do, where you work or what matters to you, we all want to get credit for the shit we do and we all know that part of ‘getting credit’ is looking like you are actually doing something.

By the way, this is different than the art of looking busy. Looking busy is all about making it look like you have too much to do and have so much responsibility that:

<a> people will look at you as so important that everyone has given you all that stuff to do, and

<b> no one should dare to give you any more to do because you already have so much to do.

Yes.

This is an art in and of itself. But the art of looking like you are actually doing something is a completely different heinous skill. On this one the person is actually trying to attach themselves to some types of outcomes.

I call this a heinous skill because in order to be truly effective at this art you:

<a> aren’t actually doing a shitload of meaningful stuff,

<b> you invest a lot of energy wandering in the middle of actual responsibility so that you can absolve yourself of bad shit and take credit/responsibility for good shit, and

<c> take credit for a shitload of shit you have never actually ever done.

I thought about this topic because Donald J Trump may be the poster child for the art of looking like you are doing something. He may have a PhD in it. He is a master at the two things which make up a successful “looking like he is doing something:”

Everything revolves around me.

The corollary to this is “nothing good could ever happen unless I was involved”.

The corollary to that is “anything bad that happens is because they didn’t involve me enough”.

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“We don’t need all the people they want us to get. Let me tell you ― the one that matters is me. I’m the only one that matters because when it comes to it, that’s what the policy is going to be.”

Donald J Trump

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Now. For the everyday schmuck like me it is easy to shuffle paperwork, get on the computer with two screens <one personal, one work so you can switch and not get busted> and a variety of little things at your desk that kind of fill up some down time all the while implying good shit is happening because of me. This is what doers do. Make their doing look essential (and in many cases it actually is). It’s part of showcasing you have value although your work may not look like it’s that valuable.

But at the senior management level, it is truly an art.

They have the ability to paint a picture of ‘my job is so important that my company wouldn’t make it without me’that, well, some really senior people start believing it!

Look. There is truly being essential and then there is claiming to be essential. Those who are essential don’t need to try and look like they are doing something, 95% of the time they are simply in demand. People want them to be involved. That’s how you find essential people. They are the ones in demand. No one demands the jerk who wants to look like they are doing something, but don’t actually do something.

Next.

insure you have enough wins to point to because the bigger the win the less you have to do elsewhere (the art of metaphorical winning).

Metaphorical winning is like having medals for nothing (but you have medals). Resumes are strewn with this type of shit under the guise of “all the things I have done.”

Anyway. Insuring you have enough wins is tricky for the “looking like doing something” artists.

“Lots of little wins” doesn’t work because … uhm … to have lots of real tangible little wins you will actually have had to have done something.

“Lots of little <fake> wins” is difficult to make work because keeping track of things you have supposedly done while simply looking like you were getting something done takes a shitload of work and bullshitting.

Now. Here is where the masters of looking like you are doing something are truly skilled – they are the ones who can envision the future. Huh? They can see no big wins in the immediate future and they recognize that imperils their just looking like they are doing something and they start worry that they may actually have to do something. So they get to work.

What do they do? They find some small win and make it look exponentially better and bigger than it is. They make gestures with flamboyance to create an illusion of “bigness.” It is small stuff that is just bigly in appearance.

Some of what I have written may sound absurd because wins & achievements should be relatively easy to discern, but they are not. Most of the meaningful achievements often look frickin’ small when outlined & explained and, in today’s world, we get encouraged to show big. So the art of looking thoughtfully busy people have an edge here because they are masters at self PR.

That said. Maybe that’s where the rubber hits the road. Find the ones who are comfortable with the small, looking small, but have the bigger achievements.

In the end.

I believe senior people who have mastered the art of looking busy are assholes. They are assholes because business thrives on not looking busy, but actually doing things. Anything less than that, particularly if you are being paid more, is business malpractice.

They look thoughtful but haven’t offered a useful thought in years (all the while claiming to be a thought leader).

They look like they are successful but really don’t know how to actually do the somethings they have claimed to do.

They look like they are essential (mostly because their big wins are wrapped around “I was the energy that lifted everyone – but I cannot point to what things I did) but struggle to consistently show their essentialness other than grand results.

They look like assholes trying to look busy, and thoughtful, and sucking morale & energy away from the ones actually doing good shit and not caring who gets credit for it.

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I have to disagree with Ralphie <which is what I believe his mother called him>. Consistency and <some> predictability gets a bad rap. In other words … consistency is neither foolish nor refuge of solely small minds. Nor is it a hobgoblin of anything <let alone little minds>.

<I am pleased to be able to use the inestimable, and not oft-used, hobgoblin word>

Please note. I write this as a person who abhors being too predictable in personal life and in business. I like going left just because the directions say go right just to see what those who tell you to go right are missing.

But. Here is an uncomfortable truth <at least to me>. Most of us like some consistency in our lives. Aw heck … I will admit it … most of us like a lot <as in shitload> of consistency in our lives.

Oh. And by lives I mean Life as well as in business.

Despite the fact we so often speak of ‘throw caution to the wind’ or that we like to be unpredictable or we like to be spontaneous or ‘be random’, we really don’t.

Yes. We say it, but, rarely do it.

We like consistency and some predictability to provide a solid backbone to our lives. And as a manager of employees you absolutely cherish some consistent behavior day in and day out.

Now, to be fair to Welles & Emerson, when is consistency a refuge of small minds?

Well. I refer to this as “small living.” It is consistent just for comfort sake. It is actually lazy living but made worse because it is living under the guise of something else — lack of any risk. Hence the reason I call it ‘small living.’ This type of consistency keeps you from exploring the bigness Life has to offer those willing to discover what is beyond consistency & predictability boundaries.

Here is what I think about that. That type of thinking, in most countries and languages, inevitably leads to a ornière, rodera, keréknyom, kiima <rut> or être en rut, in een sleur, essere in un solco, olla kiima <be in a rut>.

Rut … as in ‘an elongated hole.’

Oh my. So being too consistent or predictable is living in a hole? Yup.

Here is a reminder about holes. They typically:

<a> have slippery slopes leading down to the bottom,

<b> it is really really difficult to stop sliding down a slippery slope once on it,

<c> you need someone to pull you out of the hole once you are in it <or you stay in it>.

Just as spontaneity is imagined to be better than it actually is <because the other word for ‘spontaneity’ is ‘surprise’ and, despite surprise’s incredible reputation, the truth is that most surprises are bad> predictability can become tantalizingly too attractive. Geez. So I have just said predictability is tantalizingly attractive … as well as consistency … and, uh oh, even spontaneity. That certainly explains why Life can be so confusing at times. All things different but tantalizingly attractive <insert a big fat ‘Yikes’ here>.

Now. Explaining life is a shitload easier than actually living it and doing what needs to be done to maximize it.

Let me explain how difficult it can be. Life best lived walks a razor thin balance of several things:

<please note … this is not research but rather Bruce quasi-vapid thinking>

And I would suggest <using my research brain knowledge> that this razor thin balance is maybe an 80%-15%-5% <with a +/- 2.5% margin of error> Life mix.

Yup. Me, the lover of not being too predictable … accepts the fact that having the majority of Life be familiar and consistent and predictable as, this pains me to admit, good. Because with some people, using my margin of error. less than 2.5% of your entire Life can actually consist of any true spontaneity and you could be one of the happiest non-hobgoblins on the face of the earth.

Oh. Please note that I believe “planned spontaneity’ is possibly the biggest oxymoron of this generation.We are so obsessed with time and ‘maximizing each available moment’ for fear of ‘wasting anything’ that we actually plan our free time.

This kind of seems nuts to me.

I sometimes believe that in our objective driven world focused on predictability <including measuring success on how well we were able to predict our outcome, including happiness — which seems slightly ludicrous> that we have lost sight of the fact Life is often meant to be lived to ‘do’ & to discover and that the discovery is the measurement not the supposed end value of that discovery.

Do I value the road which was rocky, overgrown and comes to an aggravating dead end as more valuable than the one which was scenic, smooth and ends with a beautiful view?

Whew. I don’t know. I would hope that I don’t measure them against each other, but rather accept the discovery as the success. Oh. That is where predictability rears its ugly head.

Predictability and consistency is often measured in today’s time obsessed world as not only the process & the routine, but also in the result. And maybe that is where I do begin to edge into consistency being the hobgoblin of small minds. I would be foolish to suggest we don’t all aim for more positive results than negative ones because we do. Why? Simply because we all want to be happy.

But if you live your life solely focused on ‘only doing what will make me happy’ <or has the highest probability of happiness> based on predictable behavior I would suggest you have committed to not only a fairly boring path you still will not be 100% successful in reaching your intended objective.

In business? It sounds frustratingly non innovative <and a sure path down the slippery slope of mediocrity>.

And maybe that is the point.

Too much consistency and predictability only insures a life of happy <possibly content> mediocrity.

Maybe some people are content with mediocrity, but I would suggest that Life isn’t really meant to be mediocre. It is meant to be spectacularly exciting and disappointing. Maybe not all the time <any one of us would eventually get sick if 24 hours a day we rode the world’s largest rollercoaster>, but certainly we deserve to see how high we can go and how low we can get out of.

Why? Because all of that stuff defines our character <plus, who the hell wants their epitaph to be “he was consistent & predictable”?>.

I imagine all I am suggesting is that Life isn’t meant to be little. Too much consistency and predictability simply insures you have made your Life as little as it can be. I am not suggesting you have to go hog-wild and ‘live every moment like it is your last’ <which, in general, I tend to believe is fairly crappy advice> but rather … maybe it is challenging yourself to live on that razor thin balance of consistency, planned spontaneity and true spontaneity.

Look. I know this isn’t easy … and I also understand that there is a huge spectrum of living life possibilities between dangerous freedom and slavery to predictability. I know I personally swing back & forth between the two <which could make anyone’s head a little dizzy on occasion>.

But maybe it is simpler to go ahead and call this type of attitude & behavior as ‘restless consistency.’ Maybe we should aspire to live Life that way … and each of us define our restlessness however we would like, but maintain some restlessness.

I can guarantee only one thing: it will not all go well.

Okay.

I can guarantee two things: it will not all go well but what does go well will most likely go really well.

Well. Maybe I can predict one more thing. Your Life will be bigger. Your business will be bigger.

I’m not sure why you’re so angry at us. We haven’t been around as long as I assume you have been around.

You’ve been voting a lot longer than any of us. You’ve had a say in how our culture and society and economy and political system have been shaped. The state of affairs Sanders is describing has been evolving over several decades. Surely the great wisdom you possess saw most of this coming, the income inequality, the wars for profit, etc. Could it be that we’re easy to rage against because we’re younger and poorer and more vulnerable than you? Could it be that you should be raging against the person you see in the mirror every morning and the generation you associate with every day, but it’s too hard to face the misdeeds of your age group, so you project blame onto us?

—-

A Millennial commenting online

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“… whether you know it or not, you’re offspring are already screwed and it not because of Trump.

Lets be honest here… The kids are 20+ trillion dollars in debt. No middle class left. No economic growth. No jobs. A country infiltrated by illegal aliens. Murder rates skyrocketing. Our infrastructure is decimated. Islamic extremist threaten us daily. Russia and China flexing their military muscle and North Korea and Iran on the verge of nuclear weaponry.

And you’re worried about Trump becoming president.

When I see posts such as yours I think to myself how in the world with all the news sources at everyone finger tips can people be so blind to what is right in front of them. Ignorance is a bigger threat to us than Trump can ever be.”

—-

a white Boomer commenting online

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Carlo Rosselli:

“I had a house: they destroyed it. I had a magazine: they suppressed it. I had ideas, dignity, an ideal: for these I was sent to prison. I had friends: they killed them.”

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I am a white guy.

An old white guy.

I don’t loathe being white and I certainly don’t believe simply being white makes one an evil person and it certainly doesn’t increase your odds of being ‘gooder’ or ‘badder’ simply because the color of your skin.

But sometimes, okay, more often than not, I write with some sense of disdain for the older generation of white guys <particularly in business> because we seem to be, or at least becoming, an angry generation.

Angry at the naïve young people.

Angry at some ill-defined establishment <or institution aligned against us>.

Angry at minorities <who appear to be getting a better break than us>.

Angry at women <who used to be more supportive of us>.

Angry at other countries <because, dammit, we are the best and if they improve we don’t look at ‘best’>.

Angry at change.

Angry at no change.

Shit. We are just angry enough at the world we will take selective bits of misinformation and get so angry we start getting angry at a world that just isn’t as bad as we are angry about.

But what is most concerning is that this anger is beginning to extend like a big amorphous blob in every direction. In other words … we are just angry people in an angry world looking for anyone and everywhere to focus our anger.

—

“I cannot be angry with you. Anger would be a waste of the moments we have and would make us weak in the face of the things yet to do.”

—

Some of this amorphous blob-like anger is explainable.

It CAN be easy to feel marginalized when looking back at the past.

It can be easy to feel less respected when looking back at the past.

It can be easy to feel like everything was better when looking back at the past.

It can be easy to remember a country that wasn’t obese, a country that did not struggle to educate the young or even a country in which there seemed to be an extreme demand for guns for everyone.

Yeah. I could point out, as an old white guy, what I call the silent minority <because they seem to be REALLY angry>. This silent minority is a slice of white America who has watched from the stagnant sidelines of Life as initiative after initiative is created to ‘right the wrongs’ of the past for women, the LBGT community, the blacks, Asians and … well … anyone non-white.

It may sound disingenuous to suggest this is a legitimate concern when white Americans currently have a majority-minority relationship in the country. But this is a real minority within the majority who has real anger <or maybe strong frustrations> all compounded by some fear/anger mongerers who encourage a sense that “real Americans” are being crowded out.

This anger creates a critique of everyone and everything all threaded through with an unhealthy thread of paranoia driven conjecture driven theories.

That said. It sure does seem like everyone is angry and angry about something or someone.

Well. Okay. The uber rich people aren’t angry … they just don’t care.

But everyone else is.

The aspiring uber rich people are angry at the ‘lazy entitled lower income’ who want money they haven’t earned.

The middle <& going down> income are people angry at everyone.

The lower middle <who are probably hard working & pragmatic but have always had hope to be & do better> people are angry at the aspiring uber & uber.

The lower income people are just angry <because while they don’t see the poor social mobility numbers that I do which state that America is not the land of opportunity … they already know that if they are born lower income they will most likely live & die in lower income>.

And all incomes people are angry at government.

Heck. People are angryat work.

They don’t feel secure in their jobs on top of they are losing hope they will have opportunities to move up on top of the fact it sometimes seems like charisma <and what is being called ‘instincts’> is being valued more than actually knowing what to do <and rational logical thinking>. Therefore those with ability <or the ability to enhance their ability> but don’t meet the charisma criteria <gift of gab, appearance, etc.> or don’t value the charisma thing themselves <they just want to get shit done> … lose hope. And get angry.

In addition. We older folk feel some anger as it seems like the workplace is outplacing us, and our skills, faster than ever before. Workplace generation gaps used to pit older veterans against young rookies but now it is a weird digital driven world, where thinking and deductive skills seem to have less value, and generation gaps in the workplace give a lot of people the sense that they are falling behind and must struggle to avoid being left out.

People are angry at home.

Home values <most homes major investment> struggle. There is uncertainty with the economy on top of uncertainty with time … people work hard to manage time and yet there never seems to be enough of it. We are angry about lack of money, lack of time and lack of perceived control over our own Life.

People are angry because our hope is being fucked with <hope for a better life & hope for better fairness>.

People are happy in life when they think it’s fair … or they get a fair chance. “I don’t need to get to the top … or be the best … or even get the most … I just want to know that I had the opportunity to do so IF I had really been the best or the top or deserved the most.” Most of us realize we are not ‘the best’ or the ‘cream of the crop’ … we are just average Joes & Joettes <everyday schmucks>.

And you know what? Most people, like me, are not angry about being an everyday schmuck <we are okay with it> but we do want to feel like that if by some miracle we were the best, if but for one critical moment, that we would get the opportunity to get what the best get.

Alternatively … if we see few glimpses of opportunity … well … we get angry.

This may be unrealistic <because it is just a ‘what if’ scenario>? But opportunity & hope are fickle funny things. And pretty valuable to us average everyday schmucks.

People are angry at Life.

While Life has always seemed to never miss an opportunity to screw with you … at least in the past it seemed like Life was fair <it took away and gave>.

People have a larger sense of anger.

This is more about a situation in which they feel like they have little or no control over and cannot do anything about. This creates an anger focus in that we start looking for someone and anyone to blame for whatever it is that is making us angry <I would argue the foundation of all his anger is that we are having our hopes and dreams screwed with>.

People are angry because optimism seems to be in the purview of only the naive fools.

We get angry because optimism is a conscious belief … almost an ideology if you elect to be. It has a tangible cognitive attachment to it … almost an expectation of what will be. if we perceive someone placing obstacles in between our optimistic thinking and the tangible cognitive attachment … well … we get fucking angry.

People are angry as they teeter between an anger that we are currently faced with the tragic ongoing horror show of President Trump ‘as a cut price Mussolini and demigod of the intellectually challenged’ and an anger that President Trump, the self-proclaimed change agent, has become mired in his own self proclaimed swamp.

People are angry that the US now consists of a shitload of small towns with shuttered shops, high unemployment in selective geography, low wages, increasing dependency on government support, free food, soup kitchens. Fifty million below the poverty line. Tens of millions without health insurance and those with coverage, struggling to pay their premiums … and 50% of Americans cannot even afford a vacation.

People are angry that the shining light of democracy is quickly taking on the appearance of a kind of banana republic … or a well developed “Somalia with guns, hamburgers, obesity and better drainage.”

As for me? While I was not a huge Clinton fan I get a little angry that a Hillary Clinton message grounded in “love, togetherness and kindness” was trumped by some asshat talking about “destruction, despair and winning is all that matters” — an asshat who publicly stated at a podium in front of a crowd of cheering people that he had no idea what Clinton meant by wanting to make America whole again.

All that said.

We are an angry people in an angry world.

Anger sometimes makes us cling to obvious untruths rather than face the truth — about ourselves, about society, about reality — and therefore we ignore the real truths which would lead to the well needed fundamental difficult changes necessary to diminish our anger.

Personally, I believe 99% of anger is wasted energy.

However. On occasion, anger, if causing some self-refection, can create a sense of reflective responsibility, i.e., what have I done to create his environment of anger? Is there is a real issue that has been raised … and needs to be addressed?

We are an angry group these days and, yet, we seem to remain at least minimally functional. The term “new normal” or “normalizing the current attitude” gets thrown around a lot these days. So much so that it just seems normal <or maybe we just cannot define abnormal well enough to deal with it>. And that is what concerns me as I reflect as an old white guy — functioning in an angry world as the new normal. We have mastered functional anger.

Look. People have legitimate reason to be angry, but we also have legitimate reasons to assume some personal responsibility for the legitimate parts as well as legitimate fundamental changes to solve our legitimate anger.

I will end this by suggesting anger is most often driven by a clash of ideas — even if you want to argue there is rampant ignorance <you can still have ideas even if you are ignorant>. A country is always wracked by conflict where the discussion can be raucous, or whispered, at different times in history, but it resides in all times nonetheless.

I would point out America is constantly morphing. The clash of ideas is actually what makes America great. Its lack of simplicity is what makes it great. Therefore it is actually the constant conflict that makes it great.

Think of the country as a number of tectonic plates constantly shifting and crashing into each other with earthquakes and trembles and ultimately soaring mountain ranges … and sinking islands. Those tectonic plates are the fractured sections of class, culture, race, income levels, social status, generational norms, educational attainment and, well, even individual state identity.

But possibly the largest tectonic civilization plates are what was, what is & what will be. The tectonic plates of time and everything that resides upon them … the mountain ranges of attitudes & desires and the valleys of “what I have and what I believe is mine to keep” <the latter can be material or mental>.

Anger is only good if it creates some change. I worry that we are, well, just angry and not using that anger for anything other than just being angry. We should admit to our anger, admit it is an angry world, and we should be using this anger to solve the anger.

Every time I watch the Olympics I am reminded of a topic which is not discussed often enough in business … angry competition. I call it angry strategizing.

Yeah. The Olympics has reminded me about competing angry.

While the Olympics are supposed to be about the love of competition and a better world through sports competition it is actually about determining the best in the world. And that, my friends, is not about love it is about the rage of competition.

While I will surely give a nod to respect shown to other great competitors and the aftermath camaraderie that can only be had among the best in the world who have competed the hardest and recognize greatness around them at the Olympics, and how they do so even in loss, I must point out that the Olympic best carry a certain rage into their competitiveness. It may not be the traditional version of anger but it is most certainly a version of anger.

It drives them to compete with the intent to beat the shit out of whomever they are competing against and be the best they can be so they can actually be the best.

I say all that because I don’t believe enough business people strategize with some anger. Anger that … well … there are some stupid ideas out there …

some stupid opinions

some stupid attitudes

competitors say and do stupid things

and certainly there is a stupid acceptance of mediocrity.

I know that I have sat in a meeting room with some business partners and looked around at the competition and what they were doing and saying and, well, got angry. Angry enough to want and do something about it.

By being angry in business <no, I am not talking about being some anger management candidate> I mean planning angry, developing a strategy thinking with some anger about the status quo, maybe even having some anger toward conventional thinking and certainly some anger against whomever you are competing <but you can still respect the ones who deserve the respect while doing so> is effective and leads to effective business strategy to create real distinction in the marketplace.

To be clear.

Anger, to me, is much more useful than disdain. Disdain breeds some arrogance and certainly diminishes the capabilities of the competition as you think about competing against them. In your scoffing at them it suggests that it is … is … well … just not worth even thinking about. Anger, on the other hand, suggests you are facing what is straight on, in its face, and taking it head on. Anger guides you not toward some flimsy white space but directly into the fray — directly toward the space you want in a market <whether it is already occupied or not> and take it. Or, as Admiral Nelson once said, “you can do no wrong by putting yourself as close to the enemy as possible.”

And you know what?

In business strategy that is smart. So that is why I call this the angry business strategy.

To be clear, there is only one real way to win and that is without cheating. I say that because anger almost forces you to not only recognize that there is no virtue to be found in taking a shortcut <although shortcuts never really exist anyway> but that there is no long cut or shortcut but rather simply getting up and going — and competing to win.

I am sure someone will point out that it may simply be you look around and get aggravated by what you see and decide to do something about it. But I think if you have the team, and you have the product or service and you actually have the means to make your mark in the business world … then … well … it is okay if you look around at the competition and the competitive business world and get a little pissed not just aggravated.

You get a little angry …

This is stupid … there is a better way.

This is crazy … I have a better product.

This is nuts … I can’t believe people believe that shit.

Your anger puts an edge on what you decide to say and do.

Far too often we sit around and have pot after pot of strong coffee and have intellectual discussions on how to smartly effectively compete. We worry through some fairly random details, talk about being the best and then go ahead and be anything but the best.

So … you know what?

If you are better, and have a better offering and are truly worth a shit and want people to know you are worth a shit … well then … there is no real intellectual challenge. You get on with getting on. You just get competitively angry and stand in the middle of the field and say “here I am, and I am not going down.”

I am not suggesting being stupid about competing. Nor am I suggesting bludgeoning the industry and competitors with some dull edged hammer.

But I am suggesting the anger puts some attitude into your strategy and tactics. It puts a sharper edge into your sense of competitive purpose.

And here is what I know.

If it isn’t blind anger but rather competitive anger you won’t tiptoe into your messaging and go to market strategy. You will stride in with some swagger, some confidence and clearly some strong purposeful messaging.

I think … no … I know more businesses would do better to attack their business strategy with some anger.

Get a little pissed about perceptions, attitudes and mediocrity.

Get pissed that people are accepting less than the best and less than real truth.

Get pissed at yourself if you are in a position where you don’t believe enough in yourself and your offering to be able to get pissed.

Yeah.

I do believe more businesses should strategize with some anger. As Tupac said … not angry and pick up a gun, but angry and open our minds.

“We are many, many people and yet we are one. What we do today with our thinking, what we do tomorrow with our thoughts, what we do with our actions and our interactions with people determines the course of the universe itself.

You are not powerless. You are not without power.”

–

Little Crow

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Well.

I have written several times about how businesses fear doing what it truly takes to survive <for some good reasons & some bad reasons>. I was reminded of this because I just saw an article that said “GE is broken. Fixing it will be long & difficult.”

My 1st thought?

They will fail to fix it just like Kodak failed to fix itself and … well … there is a long list of companies faced with ‘broken’ and failed to fix itself.

Oddly enough the reason is simple.

They weren’t willing to make the hard choices and were not willing to do what needed to be done.

==

“Stop discussing how serious the problem is, and get serious about finding an immediate solution to it.”

Terry Mark

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This permits me to share my favorite business lesson. One from September 14th 1812. The beginning of the lesson? On September 14th 1812, the Russians set fire to Moscow in the face of Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops.

Yup. The governor of Moscow herded out most of the Moscow residents and then burned almost 80% of the city.

Just as a reminder to all non-historians…this began the demise of Napoleon’s reign. This action not only permitted Russia to defeat Napoleon by forcing a debilitating retreat back to France, but it also began the demise of the Grand Armee of France. The point of this is, well, how far would you go to solve your business problem?

What happened on this date should make us all think about what we in the business world would sacrifice to win.

Look.

Do you imagine there was consensus in this Moscow discussion & decision? <hell no>

In fact. Can you imagine the first guy who stood up and said “hey, I have an idea, how about we purposely burn Moscow so they can’t have it?”

<of course all said in Russian, probably after several liters of vodka, to the Czar and probably a couple of Cossack bodyguards … who have some very sharp swords>

Someone had some kahones. I hesitate to believe many people in today’s business world have that type of kahones.

The tough decisions are … well … tough. Hard choices are … well … hard. I cn guarantee they seem to get even tougher & harder when your survival is at stake.

—————

So would you be willing to burn your burn your business to win in the face of overwhelming odds?

——————

Far too often we try to keep our options open. Straddle the fence as it were. Keep some of what we value in place and do “radical” shit with other parts. 90% of the time that is simply mental masturbation. 90% of the time that is simply suggesting your Frankenstein strategy will help you survive … when what you actually need is a “6 million Dollar Man” strategy.

Sometimes you have to kill the structure to rebuild something better from the ashes.

I say all this because I believe more businesses, whether they believe their survival is at stake or not, should be sitting down and having the hard discussion … what ARE you willing to do to win?

Heck. Maybe most importantly. When you look at your situation do you even recognize how desperate your situation is?

<remember … someone in Russia recognized, and had the balls to say something about, the fact they were about to get their ass kicked>

I mention that because the business landscape is strewn with the wreckage of businesses that did not envision their own demise.

Next. Think about ‘burning the city’ as a solution.

I believe we can all agree that someone “stepped out of the box” with a solution. Ok. They actually stepped ‘into the box’and said “let’s destroy the box.’

And let’s be clear. I have to imagine neither of these points, as stated above, were popular, well-received nor accepted as a 100% agreement “so what we will do” type of moment.

Anyway. Survival or not, one of the most difficult things a company can do is address their situation in the market. It is just not a fun discussion <usually lots of fingers get pointed in a variation of a circular firing squad>.

In general I believe most companies and businesses are pretty good at assessing their situation in the marketplace. I, for one, have been in a number of those types of meetings where everyone sits down and honestly assesses the difficult position they are in. In other words, you can see the hole you are in or heading into.

I also have been through too many meetings where that same business just isn’t willing to do what it takes to resolve the situation.

Hey. I am not suggesting this is an easy discussion <but at least we don’t have Cossacks with really sharp swords standing around us while we are discussing what to do>.

So.

Are you willing to put 80% of everything you have up in flames to win? I guess it depends on whether you believe the situation merits it. And that is a toughie for sure because we are certainly a country and group of optimists and in general we always believe there is a positive horizon. All that means is we tend to lean back in our expensive chairs in some expensive board room and think, well, c’mon … if you believe there is some positive horizon then burning ‘the city’ isn’t necessary.

But. What if it is necessary? Would you recognize it? Would someone in your group recognize it?

Oh. And if someone did would you listen?

Look. I don’t have the answers. And I am clearly a “burning the city” type of person. I am quite fine with destroying to create <not just destroying for the sake of destroying>.

You may not agree with me, but I would point out burning Moscow sure as shit helped guarantee the survival of Russia.

In the end?

Keep your eyes open. And keep your mind open to solutions. Most of the time we see the danger but, in our optimism, seek creative ways to navigate the danger all the while ignoring the fact danger has no finesse and is a sledgehammer. Ponder. Sometimes the extreme solution, while scary, is the right solution.

“The most successful businessman is the man who holds onto the old just as long as it is good, and grabs the new just as soon as it is better.”

—

Lee Iacocca

=================

“I have found that hollow, which even I had relied on for solid.”

—–

Henry David Thoreau

==========

Ok.

Let’s get the harsh truth out upfront. I am a 50something and I believe the older generation, mostly old white men, hollowed out business to the shithole point we face today.

That said.

Let me spend a minute on old white men <and I have the right to do so … because I am one> to explain why I believe this.

While a generalization, because there are exceptions, old white men have hollowed out the business world in their quest for “winning at any cost” and “maximize win-to-cash <making $>” ratio. These men have guided business to a level of so-called “greatness” through a variety of ‘great’ business acumen thoughts & business culture attitudes which were hollow attitudes and, ultimately, created fantastic looking hollow achievements.

In doing so they successfully hollowed out business.

Now.

The other aggravating thing I am doing today is, while I could write this without making this point, everyone should note that Trump is the poster child of this hollowness <and I will aggravatingly point it out over and over again>.

He has been the guiding light into this dark world of money grubbers with questionable moral compasses. You want some specifics? Here you go. This is how they have hollowed out business:

Capitalism

Capitalism is not inherently bad. In fact … it is an incredible engine for growth, innovation and increased wealth & standard of living for any and all.

But old white men hollowed capitalism. They took out all the good and added all the greed. I could partially defend old white men and suggest that they were simply participants in the arc of business history … but I will not. Peter Drucker pointed out the beginning of the arc in 1989 <as I noted in Salvation by Society> and we old white men could have eyed the arc and … well … stopped it. Instead old white men viewed the arc as an opportunity to not be burdened by morality & soul rather an opportunity to build personal wealth.

That is Trump in a nutshell.

Branding

Brands are fabulous creatures and not inherently bad. They offer us every day schmucks a nice heuristic way to make decisions and isolate differentiation in which we can make true choices.

But old white men hollowed brands. The easiest way to point this out is that we stopped talking about brands and started talking about branding. Old white men started looking at brands as vehicles of wealth and not vehicles of differentiation. Brands should evolve and not be constructed or built like some building of cold steel and cheap Styrofoam ceiling tiles. The whole concept of ‘building a brand’ is one of the most insidious concepts to infiltrate good and meaningful marketing and communications.

That is Trump in a nutshell.

Profit.

Profit is not inherently bad. Used wisely it contributes not only to personal, or individual wealth, but spurs on business growth in terms of innovation and employee development AND social involvement. But old white men hollowed the soul out of each dollar as they squeezed every cent of profit it of it. Profit is good only if it is not tainted by <a> greed and <b> at the expense of giving back <in terms of true societal salvation type things>. Businesses represent an important weave in the fabric of society and the moment a business ignores that weave and focuses solely on the profits of the entity itself … well … the opportunity arises to let the soul of each dollar made bleed out into the ether. And, yes, dollars can have a soul. Making money shouldn’t feed stock holders it should feed society.

That is Trump in a nutshell.

Wealth dispersion

Making money and creating wealth is inherently a double positive: proof of the value for your efforts and increased standard of living <not just in materialistic comforts but in real living>.

Old white men hollowed out the middle. This is more a byproduct of their business acumen more than anything else because I cannot really point out any specific behavior they consciously took to do this … but … suffice it to say that more went to the old white men and less to the ones who actually made the money for them.

That is Trump in a nutshell.

Communication.

Effective communication has been, and always will be, complex and complicated. But effective communication inevitably feeds into the minds and enlightenment of the listeners. If you dumb down communication inevitably you dumb down the listeners.

Old white men hollowed out communication. I imagine as they hollowed out everything else they found it inherently more productive to gain their objectives by hollowing out communication. Everything became soundbites, powerpoint bullet points and ‘elevator speeches.’ Effectively communicating complexity took on less importance than puncturing the mind with a quick sharp stab <and then walking away>. Old white men mastered the art of emptying communication to a point where businesses end up walking on the slippery surface of irrelevance <cloaked in a beautiful robe called “what is important for you to know.”>

That is Trump in a nutshell.

ROI.

ROI <return on investment> is a fabulous tool. It offers us every day unimaginative pragmatic schmucks an almost heuristic way to judge some fairly complex and complicated things in business.

But old white men hollowed ROI of anything intangible and along the way scraped away some of the most meaningful things associated with investment in their desire for simplistic “this led to that.” Certainly some investments have linear outcomes and results. But not all. And these hollow men in their black & white pursuit of profit, efficiency and outcomes became color blind. Old white men started looking at people as equal to numbers & dollars and not organic organisms of less than linear productivity <in terms of Life actualization as well as business actualization>. These hollow men fell in love with numbers and began diminishing the value of humanity.

That is Trump in a nutshell.

Racism

Racism in the workplace is a stealthy virus invading the organism in ways that can create an unhealthy organism which sometimes seems to never attain its full potential despite producing results.

Old white men enable this virus to exist by hollowing out the meaning in any racism discussion, and real substantive actions, in business.

These old white men rose through the ranks of business surrounded by other white people, & few minorities, simply believing it was so because it was a reflection of those “who deserved to be here” (assuming everyone COULD be here if they worked hard enough). When in leadership positions & told about racism issues they didn’t really believe it, reluctantly doing things they were told they should do all the while thinking “it’s just political correctness”. The times old white men got trapped in diversity meetings & told 5 things they did & said that were racist in their heads they said “they can’t handle truth, they are too sensitive.” What this all led to was hollow efforts at addressing racism. They grudgingly implemented some initiatives, while publically espousing their enlightenment, but privately thinking it was a waste of time, energy & monies. All the while they believed white people never got any more breaks than anyone else or that there was never any inherent ‘privileges’ bestowed upon white skinned people.

What the business world ended up with was a generation of old white men who are the worst of racists – racists convinced they are not racist. Ultimately, any substantive efforts to address racism in business were hollowed out by old white men who didn’t really believe in them.

That is Trump in a nutshell.

Lastly.

Behavior.

I hesitated to call this “the hollowing out of morality” mostly because that sounded a little harsh and I tend to believe the reality within this particular hollowness is more pragmatic. That said … it doesn’t make it any better just that I didn’t really want to get into a morality & ethical finger pointing game.

Behavior

Leadership is a complex mix of personal, professional and pragmatic. When wielded well it is a beautiful tapestry of effectiveness, however, beauty is often in the eyes of the beholder when actual effectiveness becomes

the measuring stick. As a reminder, old white men leadership grew up in a business of dictatorship leadership behavior or, at its best, benevolent dictatorship.

Old white men grew up in the hallowed halls of hollowed leadership management. This means that their ‘management twitch muscles’ inevitably provide reflexive business decision making based on this.

The easiest way to point this out is that businesses have developed a myriad of cultural initiatives and, yet, old white men leadership tends to simply treat them as “feel good politically correct” initiatives. They view them as “society dictated” thinking and not “business dictated” thinking. Therefore, a hollowness was inherent in the organization between how the old white men leaders attitudinally approached the business, how they viewed behavior and how the organization actually behaved.

Old white men began talking longingly of straight talk, when people knew their place in business and ‘carrot & sticks.’ Old white men started looking at businesses in disdain as vehicles of political correctness and not stark effectiveness. The truth is that many of the old white men simply didn’t buy in to a better way of doing business and, therefore, when put in a corner & challenged revert back to the hollow management style of “do what I tell you to do and shut up.”

To be fair, old white men did not create this hollowness … they simply propagated it.

That is Trump in a nutshell.

All that said.

These old white men, in their heart of hearts, inherently do not care about a ‘better America’ from a soul perspective nor do they care about any aspect of ‘being a better person’ but solely attach ‘better’ with wealth, importance and wins.

I get angry.

I get angry because I do not believe ‘hollowness’ is the path to greatness. It certainly has not helped us reach greatness up to this point.

And I am angry because I have believed this, and known this, for decades.

And I am even angrier because we are now led by a hollow someone with a hollow platform, hollow plans, hollow skills, hollow dignity, hollow composure and no soul <that I can see>.

Look.

This can be solved. And it can be solved by … well … old guys like me.

==============================

“At any other time it’s better.

You can do the things you feel you should; you’re an expert at going through the motions. Your handshakes with strangers are firm and your gaze never wavers; you think of steel and diamonds when you stare. In monotone you repeat the legendary words of long-dead lovers to those you claim to love; you take them into bed with you, and you mimic the rhythmic motions you’ve read of in manuals. When protocol demands it you dutifully drop to your knees and pray to a god who no longer exists. But in this hour you must admit to yourself that this is not enough, that you are not good enough. And when you knock your fist against your chest you hear a hollow ringing echo, and all your thoughts are accompanied by the ticks of clockwork spinning behind your eyes, and everything you eat and drink has the aftertaste of rust.”

―

Dexter Palmer

===================

Old white men created the problems and … well … as so well said in the movie The Return of the Pink Panther … “you set a thief to catch a thief.”

Older people can reverse the problem in one fell swoop.

I could do it with a small merry band of contrarian older people (women & men) who have chafed in this hollow existence could bring some good healthy substance back into this wretched hollowness.

This is a unique time in history in which business, country and politics have intersected.

This is a unique time for older business people to right the wrongs of all they have wrought up to this point.

I certainly hope this happens, as an old white man myself, simply for the sake of redemption for all of us old white men.

It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives.

The future is an inﬁnite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”

–

Howard Zinn

====

“When you do things right, people won’t be sure that you have done anything at all.”

–

God (in Futurama)

=========================

Well.

I get a little concerned, on occasion, that in the business world kindness is considered a negative thing.

Simplistically there is a general impression that if you are kind, or nice, you are not tough — or tough enough to assume the more difficult responsibilities.

At this attitude’s worst dimension it breeds a belief ‘assholes win’ therefore … ‘be an asshole.’

To be clear. There is a shitload of empty rhetoric of ‘playing nice’ and ‘team playing’ but that is from an overall organizational perspective … not a management track perspective. For on a parallel track to the ‘be kind/pay well’ is the “the toughest fighters are the leaders.”

Now.

Aspects of that latter point are true but it seems like everyone forgets to add onto that thought … “but that doesn’t mean you need to be so at the expense of kindness.”

Once again, in the business world, it seems like we are encouraged to believe in the completely fucked up thinking of “one thing and one thing only.”

When asked the question … “What is the one most important attribute of a great manager?” … answer — “ability to make the tough decision” <implication: you need to be tough above all>.

And while I could argue whether I am exactly right on what I am now going to share, the reality is that one of the most important attributes of a great manager is actually “ability to make the tough decision without losing sight of kindness.”

One attribute can actually be a combination of things and not just “one.” For some absurd reason we tend to believe that people will be torn between these two opposing forces. That we will naturally gravitate toward one or the other and, therefore, be battling what we believe is right rather than effectively doing the job.

Well.

It is a battle when you are younger in business and is a battle worth fighting <even if you get it wrong on occasion>. Just a in military training the more experience I get the more likely I will win the battle the next time <assuming I survive>. The point is that if you make the bold choice to incorporate kindness from day one <which no one seems to be pragmatically encouraging young people to do so> by the time you become a real manager and leader it just becomes something you do without thinking about it.

Yeah.

I did just use the world “bold.”

I did so because in today’s world everyday kindness, and done so consistently, is both a bold pioneering statement in a “eat the little fish” world. And, yet, this bold personal decision can offer some amazing rewards.

Several years ago I had to offer ’20 things about Me’ to a company and within it I shared this as my #1 thing:

My grandfather

The greatest man I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. A simple kind man who honored integrity, kindness and truth above all. He taught me more about me, life and how to live Life <without overtly teaching> than anyone I have ever known. He remains my North Star for my life. I can only hope to be half the man he ever was … but at least he gave me something to aim for.

It was in that same piece I also shared his:

Spike Lee

I was in my early 30’s in the audience when I heard Spike Lee say these words about his films … “I recognize everything I do impacts how people think … and even what they do … I have a responsibility every time I create anything.” It changed how I viewed what I did and actually how I did it moving forward. Basically … I began assuming responsibility.

So.

What the heck does my white conservative non bombastic grandfather have to do with Spike Lee?

Choice.

Yep.

Choice.

Deciding to be successful and be kind is a choice. And a big choice given the kind of shit they try and teach you far too often in business these days. Assuming responsibility for kindness … well … impacts everything. It is one of those ‘ripple affect’ type choices – with benefits in the present and in the future. Spike Lee reminded me ‘choice’ needs to be represented in the never-ending onslaught of ‘present moments’ and my grandfather reminded me of the ultimate reward for actually living that kind of Life.

By the way I am not suggesting “manufacturing kindnesss’ or ‘purposefully creating kindness.’ But I do tend to believe you can affect your kindness by consciously deciding that kindness can win an that kindness does not diminish effectiveness in business.

The truth is that Kindness wins if you simply believe it can get injected into … well … discrete moments of now.

Uh oh.

This means that kindness is driven not only by awareness but some common sense and clarity … and there is no secret code other than making the choice.

Shit.

No secret code.

Unfortunately … without a code I have to offer the unfortunate truth about kindness … you have to do something, or actually be consistently kind, to actually be kind. What I am talking about is make choices. Choose to be kind and act with kindness.

Yeah.

You almost have to defiantly choose to choose to be kind.

Aa well as choose to live in defiance of all that is not kind.

Look.

I am not suggesting you shouldn’t call someone a jackass if they truly are a jackass, or be harshly constructively critical if that is what will get through to someone or even make the hard call where people get pissed.

Sometimes business demands you to portray some dick-like qualities. It does so not because it encourages you to actually be a dick, or a jack ass, but organizational inertia is incredibly difficult to address and, yes, sometimes you have to kick some ass to get everyone moving.

So maybe you need to selectively be a jack ass.

=============================

“Got to mind the delicate social nuances when you inform some poor fellow that he’s a dumb motherfucker.”

————

Locke Lamora

================

And, yet, you can be a jack ass without sacrificing kindness.

What I am suggesting is if you carry kindness with you … and offer kindness as a thread of all that you do … well … kindness can win and does win. In other words you can still make the tough management decisions, the hard choices, be a little bit f a jack ass on occasion and, yet, in the end everyone will see that you did the right thing ‘well.’ in other words you can win the right way instead of just winning.

I will tell you one thing that I know for sure. While being consistently incorporating kindness into your business Life may seem like a bold pioneering choice I would suggest that by doing so … well … it offers some comfortable familiarity <we remember how nice it feels>. There is a small sense of satisfaction; let’s call it “added value”, in everything you do if kindness is injected into the decisions and behavior. It is almost like you have baked a cake and someone has placed your favorite icing on top when they give it to you.

If you do it right, no one really notices that you didn’t put the icing on the cake but rather they did.

Anyway.

Kindness does matter … even in business. and kindness can be done without costing you promotions, effectiveness and … well … character. And isn’t that last thing the most important anyway?

“The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation. Things you think are separate and different are actually one and the same.

We are all one people. But we live as if divided.”

————

The Last Airbender

===

Well.

This is about business & leadership <while using some politics to make a point>.

All you have to do is turn on TV or read some critique of America <or read any email espousing the evils of the Obama administration> and you will find something about ‘the great divide.’ This is the belief that the American president has increased racial divide and income inequality.

I assume that any business leader who has managed any significant sized organization, like myself, kind of chuckle at the people who write this shit.

I am not a huge Obama fan but, in general, presidents get blamed for shit they have absolutely no control over. Suffice it to say any leader gets blamed for shit they often have no control over.

Here is a business truth <which I painfully learned … but, luckily, learned relatively early on>.

When a leader/manager gets hired it is typically to ‘fix’ something. Not many people get hired because things are going great and nothing should be changed.

But when a new leader walks into their new office that leader learns very quickly, and harshly, there are typically three active narratives:

– The personal narrative: I <the leader> want to do some things differently, and better, and want to inspire the change I believe would make the organization better.

– The employee narrative: all the crap they believe is wrong with the business and how it is being run.

– The ‘internal competition’ narrative: there may not be other managers actively competing with you as a new leader but there is always a competitive ‘what we believe needs to be changed to make us better’ narrative <and the entrenched beliefs based on their tenure at the organization>.

But let me focus on the employee, the people, and their narrative.

Because I will also say new leaders do enable things and have the ability to bring forth discussion on issues that in the past have not been a priority or have simply not had the forum to be discussed.

I would note that is the same with every new president.

I would note that is the same with any new business leader.

Just think about America as an example.

When America elected a black president I would argue he did not enable what is often called ‘the great divide’ <more racism than in the past> but rather it permitted those sitting, waiting for their moment to discuss what is important <to them and to society> to step forth and speak. I would also note that just as you & I are angry, frustrated and loud after sitting in a waiting room for 4 hours for an appointment we felt we had committed to days ago whomever is now stepping up to discuss is frustrated, angry and loud.

This is tapping into the ‘employee/people narrative.’ Simply enabling ‘what is’ and bringing it to the discussion table where it has been sitting in the waiting room frustrated for its appointment for years.

Here is what a new leader faces.

There is often some, if not a lot, of truth in the people narrative.

===

We now know that for every dollar of wealth white families have, black families have a nickel. We know that being middle class does not immunize black families from exploitation in the way that it immunizes white families. We know that black families making $100,000 a year tend to live in the same kind of neighborhoods as white families making $30,000 a year.

We know that in a city like Chicago, the wealthiest black neighborhood has an incarceration rate many times worse than the poorest white neighborhood.

This is not a class divide, but a racist divide.

===

One of the toughest things to swallow when you assume new leadership is that your own personal narrative, and dreams/wishes/vision, are not only notembraced by everyone but they also have their own narrative <which they deem more important>.

I have never tried to lead or manage 300+ million but I have walked into new leadership responsibilities where not only the employee narrative had been sitting in the waiting room since 7:00 in the morning <and it was now 5 in the evening> but, also, the competitive narrative was unwaveringly combative and misdirected.

And I can honestly say it was … well … not easy.

I am not suggesting I am a great leader <because possibly a great leader can easily resolve such a great divide> but I would suggest that bridging this great a divide is not done easily nor is there a formulaic ‘great leaders know how to do “x” and get “y” alignment’ solution.

I say that to suggest not resolving a great divide doesn’t make you a crappy leader.

Sometimes the narratives have to just play out over time and the role you play as a leader is to permit the narrative to be voiced and nudge solutions along.

Look.

It would be awesome if the world could simply be divided between good people and bad people but, alas, it is not so.

Good people have bad ideas … and frustrations sometimes not articulated well.

Bad people sometimes have good ideas … and can actually be good on occasion.

A leader who fails to debate a business’ own standards and avoids the narrative is doomed for failure.

However.

Even being open to the debate & discussion doesn’t guarantee success.

Sometimes narratives are so deep seeded or have been festering for so long that when they are released it is like a flood of angst, anger & frustration. None of which are easily resolved or even salved.

But what I would suggest is that a leader is not supposed to solve the divides.

Instead they create the best of the best organizations if they use the divides as a source of a multifaceted multidimensional strength.

===

“We are of course a nation of differences.

Those differences don’t make us weak. They’re the source of our strength.”

—

Jimmy Carter

=====

And, with that, I will close by highlighting two words – multifaceted multidimensional.

Great businesses, and countries, are multifaceted and multidimensional. I would suggest inherent in that strength are natural divides between the facets and the dimensions. Business people know that. And they don’t fight it but rather simply figure out a way to get all the squirrels herded in the same direction.
From the outside people may only see squirrels running around aimlessly.

From the inside you see squirrels digging up sustenance and storing it up at the nest for the benefit of the future survival and prosperity.

All that matters is that within the divides you maintain the intellectual and the soul. Ultimately that is the key to success.

“This country is an idea, and one that’s lit the world for two centuries and treason against that idea is not just a crime against the living! This ground holds the graves of people who died for it, who gave what Lincoln called the last full measure of devotion, of fidelity.”

Sam Seaborn, The West Wing

Ok.

It is quite possible that re-watching West Wing should be mandatory for people. And while I believe it is must see re-watching for Americans … I imagine it wouldn’t hurt anyone in any country.

I am sure those people who want to see liberal versus conservative will find gobs of reasons to not watch it <I have heard that some ultra conservatives hated the show>.

To everyone I will simply say “the show encourages smart thinking … and the difficulty in finding solutions <easy, hard, one that makes everyone happy, one that makes everyone unhappy> in a complex world in which politics and politicians run the complex world.”

Regardless.

This isn’t a debate on the show itself.

But when I recently heard one of the characters say the above quote … a thought just started growing in my pea like brain.

A country is an idea.

Nothing more and nothing less.

We like to think of countries as well defined pieces of geography … lines on a map … maybe some big wall lining a boundary … maybe even a guard post or two which defining where you enter and leave.

We like to think of countries as superpowers … or emerging … or civilized … and sometimes uncivilized.

We define countries by their military power … their economic power … their lack of power … their dreams for power.

We define countries by their type of government … or some pithy ideology <despite the fact it is more often in the nuance>.

We define countries by things like capitalism, socialism, communism … which ends up including fairness, greed, corruption, equality, inequality and a variety of values associated with the population <despite the fact we are trying to pin down individual characteristics on populations sometimes numbering in to the millions>.

We define countries by size on the map, location on a map and even who drew the map.

Well.

A country is an idea.

That’s it.

People don’t die because they are ordered to but rather for an idea <what Lincoln did call ‘the last full measure of devotion’>.

People don’t do … well … almost anything … unless they actually believe in the idea.

Here is the kind of wacky thing if you think about this idea.

This idea.

People may not even be able to articulate the idea.

They may not be clear on what the idea actually is.

They may not even be able to agree on the idea itself with their neighbors.

Sure.

They may get close … and in general most will poorly articulate some simple platitude while trying to encapsulate what is typically a fairly complex web of things making up the idea.

But.

Their country is their country.

And it makes you think … what kills countries.

Of course a country can physically cease to exist if it is divided, conquered, or absorbed into another country.

But this is about the idea.

In fact … I could remind everyone that Poland ‘ceased to exist’ for almost 100 years as it was absorbed by Austria, Russia and Germany prior to World War 1. And yet most Polish remained Polish in their heads, hearts and souls … therefore Poland remained as … well … an idea.

This idea is powerful.

It is what makes people wear or display their flag.

It is what makes me answer “I am a Spaniard” or “I am Ukrainian” or “I am Polish” or “I am Nigerian” or … as with myself … “I am American.”

And I even sit up a little straighter when I say those words.

And frankly in today’s world … you begin to question the idea.

Or maybe what makes the idea work and be successful.

Ideas are tricky things.

You simply accept them when all is going smoothly <and most probably get a little complacent with regard to the idea>.

You really only pay attention to the idea when there is a problem <personally or countrywide … so there are a variety of opportunities> or a crisis <disaster>.

By the way … this doesn’t mean you don’t believe the idea … in fact … it shows how much you actually do believe in this intangible thing. You are willing to fight, argue, angst and in general terms lose your mind … over this idea.

Ideas endure.

Not because of governments … but because of people.

But that is really no different than business organizations, community clubs, families, etc.

Governments set boundaries <just as parents do> … and the idea endures within a variety of different boundaries.

Anyway.

The idea of a country is often articulated around bar stools in bars, kitchen tables at home, cooking grills outside, street corners, etc. … but most often succinctly articulated by speechwriters who get paid to put few words together to capture the essence of an idea … like this recent United States State of the Union speech:

“…the basic bargain that built this country — the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, no matter what you look like, or who you love.

It is our unfinished task to make sure that this government works on behalf of the many, and not just the few; that it encourages free enterprise, rewards individual initiative, and opens the doors of opportunity to every child across this great nation.

The American people don’t expect government to solve every problem. They don’t expect those of us in this chamber to agree on every issue. But they do expect us to put the nation’s interests before party.

“That’s just the way we’re made. We may do different jobs and wear different uniforms, and hold different views than the person beside us. But as Americans, we all share the same proud title — we are citizens. It’s a word that doesn’t just describe our nationality or legal status. It describes the way we’re made. It describes what we believe. It captures the enduring idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations, that our rights are wrapped up in the rights of others; and that well into our third century as a nation, it remains the task of us all, as citizens of these United States, to be the authors of the next great chapter of our American story.”

It really doesn’t matter who said these words <although we people seem to get the presenter and the presented words all tangled>.

This is an idea.

This is a country.

Well <part 1>.

I imagine my point is that if you accept the fact that a country is an idea … it really cannot die.

Well <part 2>.

It cannot die on its own.

It can be mismanaged so badly the idea as it exists dies <only to be reborn as a new idea>.

“Brands do not die natural deaths. However, brands can be murdered through mismanagement. Some brands are beyond hope — but others can be revitalized.”

Larry Light <an ex CMO who knows some shit about brands>

Anyway.

If you accept that countries are ideas then you also accept the fact that a country is very much like a brand <in fact … a country is a brand and I have given that very fun presentation and that post is coming>.just like brands we fret about our own brand <a national extinction> but at the same time we angst over building other brands.

The idea exists and is always in flux and no matter how badly you feel about your brand … or concerned … or even have some doubts … brands are pretty enduring even when mismanaged.

I don’t want to debate with anyone on mismanagement of any country … and especially America.

I don’t like politics and I find few politicians who I would want to follow.

But my point about countries and ideas and brands really has only one point when it comes to comparison to business.

Governments are nothing, repeat, nothing like running a business. Dysfunction, or lack of action, can be solved in one swift decision in a business … not so much in governments <unless you are in a non-republic like system>.

However.

No matter what a business may try and convince you … they don’t ‘own’ or build a brand … the buyer does.

A government doesn’t own the country idea … the buyer does.

The business and the government just have the ability to manage the brand … not own it.

Our ‘mixed up soul’ is ours … it resides within the citizen … the people.

Ideas are powerful things because they reside in the minds of people. And nothing is more powerful than the mind.

We are thousands … no .. millions … of ambassadors of an idea. A country in and of itself.

I read this somewhere and I found it scribbled on a random piece of paper … “I cannot be angry with you. Anger would be a waste of the moments we have and would make us weak in the face of the things yet to do.”

I feel like there are undercurrents of anger and even some rage running through America these days.

There is a critique of … well … everyone and everything <albeit much of the vitriol seems to be targeted at the president> utilizing some unmistakable xenophobic resentment, lots of wild conjecture, and a thread of paranoia.

You can debate some of the words I just used … but suffice it to say that everyone is angry.

Well.

Ok.

The incredibly rich of the rich just don’t care.

But the aspiring incredibly rich are angry at the ‘lazy entitled lower income’ who want money they haven’t earned.

The middle <going down> income are angry at everyone.

The lower middle income people <who are probably hard working &pragmatic but have always had hope to be & do better> are angry at the aspiring rich & the incredibly rich.

The lower income people are just angry <because while they don’t see the poor social mobility numbers that I do which state that America is not the land of opportunity … they already know that if they are born lower income they will most likely live & die in lower income>.

And all incomes are angry at government.

And to make it worse? No one is even really sure what rich is, what middle income is or how much money is enough <except the lower income who recognize that whatever they have is barely enough>.

Thinking about it I believe people are angry on a number of levels:

– People are angry at work.

They don’t feel secure in their jobs on top of they are losing hope they will have opportunities to move up on top of the fact it sometimes seems like charisma <and what is being called ‘instincts’> is being valued more than actually knowing what to do <and rational logical thinking>. Therefore those with ability <or the ability to enhance their ability> but don’t meet the charisma criteria <gift of gab, appearance, etc.> or don’t value the charisma thing themselves <they just want to get shit done> … lose hope.

And get angry.

And get even angrier when the gap in pay between those who are leading <sometimes not that effectively> is disproportionately out of whack from those who are quite effectively getting shit done.

– People are angry at home <and with Life>.

Home values <most homes major investment> struggle. There is uncertainty with the economy on top of uncertainty with time … people work hard to manage time and yet there never seems to be enough of it.

Now. It would be easy to think I am talking about money but it is really about hope. Hope for a better life. Hope for better fairness. People are happy in life when they think it’s fair … or they get a fair chance. “I don’t need to get to the top … or be the best … or even get the most … I just want to know that I had the opportunity to do so IF I had really been the best or the top or deserved the most.” Most of us realize we are not ‘the best’ or the ‘cream of the crop’ … we are just average Joes & Joettes.

But we just want to feel like that if by some miracle we were, if but for one critical moment, that we would get the opportunity to get what the best get.

Alternatively … no opportunity and … well … we get angry.

Is this unrealistic thinking <because it is just a ‘what if’ scenario>? Sure … maybe.

But opportunity & hope are fickle funny things.

And pretty valuable to us average Joes.

Bottom line. While Life has always seemed to never miss an opportunity to screw with you … at least in the past it seemed like Life was fair <it took away and gave>. We get angry.

– People are angry with themselves

Push social mobility off to the side. Push aggravations with Time. Push government and the system and all the other things off to the side.

We are angry about talking about money & having things … material things. Because material things don’t really make us happy <I will discuss this in more detail later>.

We know that not only in our hearts and souls … but in our heads. And yet it seems every time we open our mouths … words come out about income and owning homes and being able to afford things. We are angry because we are talking about shit that doesn’t really inspire us as people.

Simplistically … It sometimes appears like materialism has become the new standard people measure themselves by in society. And greed is the fastest way to attain higher levels of materialism.

But. Here’s the deal.

We don’t like materialism. WE don’t like greed. We don’t like the whole concept of it. And we get angry when it not only appears like it is the most important thing to us but also when it appears the only way to look, or be, successful is to make it an important thing to ourselves.

Mostly we are angry because we know there is a better way of thinking. We know we are better as people than this.

Ok.

Moving on.

It is interesting <at least to me> but when I wrote my Unicorns and Rainbows post < http://brucemctague.com/unicorns-rainbows > last April it was it was because I feared that people were losing hope and being depressed. So depressed they had just given up hope and dreaming. I believed the issue then was “tough times and people under daily stress just to keep head above water.”

I felt like people just had no time for hope.

Now I feel the overall issue has changed.

Now people haven’t given up on hope and dreams … they are angry because they believe someone, or someones, are screwing with their hope and dreams.

It could be culture in general, economic climate, decaying social moral morays, politicians <or government in general>… doesn’t matter … pick your target … people are angry at something.

What I believe about their anger?

They are looking for someone and anyone to blame for having their hopes and dreams screwed with.

To be clear.

There is a difference between hope and optimism.

Hope is emotional. It is a longing for something that is somewhere beyond our reach … most likely out of our immediate control.

Optimism is a conscious belief … almost an ideology if you elect to be. It has a tangible cognitive attachment to it … almost an expectation of what will be.

Both can lead to happiness <an ever elusive objective> … but both can also lead to disappointment and unhappiness … if not anger <if people perceive someone is putting obstacles between them and their hope or optimism>.

This leads to an additional problem in today’s world.

While most people are relatively pragmatic with regard to hope … they are not very pragmatic on optimism.

We are a country of optimists … positive thinkers. And maybe, as a book by Barbara Ehrenreich suggests … we have been sucked too far down into the positive thinking tripe hole to get out.

Just a quick note.

I am not ‘anti-positive thinking.’ I believe it can be a healthy addition to one’s life … and in balancing pessimism and/or pragmatism can help maintain ‘hope for something better.’ As I read somewhere … ‘it cannot hurt to put a picture of your dream house up on your mirror … it could be what leads you to your next step toward it.’ My main issue with positive thinking resides in the thought that simply visualizing that dream house will not bring it to you <sorry to Unlaw the Law of Attraction>. This may seem contrary to some things you have read in media about “positive psychology” … but this is truth.

Anyway.

While I certainly can agree with ‘too much unrealistic positive thinking” and I can point out that research shows the happiest people actually are not the most positive <or optimistic> but actually the most pragmatic balanced <they have both realistic optimism as well as pragmatic pessimism> … I will actually suggest to Barbara and her reader’s that it isn’t positive thinking that is creating the issues in today’s emotional society but instead it is how it affects hope.

“The most dangerous moments are not when people are their poorest but rather when their expectations of significant improvement are raised … and end in frustration.” – de Tocqueville

Happiness <and Hope> is, and isn’t, about money.

Once you have enough money to escape miserable lives of hunger and sickness … money quickly leads to a perpetual state of dissatisfaction.

The role income plays is fraught with conflict.

No study has really been able to correlate a specific income to happiness <multiple studies reflect anywhere from $50,000 to $161,810>.

The most interesting thing?

When conducting studies like this … if you give someone cookies before you ask this question … the income stated is less.

If you ask them to make a copy at the copier and leave a dime on it for them to think they found it before you ask them this question … the income stated is less.

What does that mean? <beyond the fact research is dangerous to use as your sole decision-making platform>

Money ain’t everything unless you focus solely on money.

Money also leads to lifestyle upgrades.

But, once again, that is fraught with conflict.

Psychologists call it ‘hedonistic adaptation.’

Once you achieve the income you desired … well … you go back to desiring more.

Money also translates to happiness in another very odd way … relativism.

If you earn more than your brother-in-law you are happier than if you just have a certain income.

In other words … actual wealth does not always equate to happiness <albeit the citizens of richer countries tend to be ‘happier’ than non-richer countries>.

Ah.

But hope for wealth does equate to happiness.

<therein lies the value of Hope … actual is valued less than the Hope for … how ’bout that ?!?>

And if someone screws with that hope … well … they are unhappy.

And this is where reality may be actually settling in to the everyday person.

Optimism can ease the pain of being laid off <downsized>. Optimism can ease the uncomfortable sense of economic inequality.

Well.

It does until someone screws with your hopes <therefore attacking all that positive thinking>.

In the past it was easier to not resent the CEO’s earning $10+million a year and the owners of luxurious homes when you thought <or hoped> you had as equal an opportunity to attain that as they did.

In reality, especially in today’s world, real social mobility is just a myth.

The Brookings Institution stated just before 2010 … “the strong belief in opportunity and upward mobility is the explanation most often given for Americans high tolerance for economic inequality. The majority of Americans surveyed believed that they will be above mean income in the future <even though studies reflect that is a mathematical impossibility – or incredibly high improbability>.

That is perception reality <‘I perceive it so strongly it must be reality‘> … which is almost as tangible as anything else in people’s heads.

Reality is not just today’s unemployment … it is the fact between 1981and 2003 about 30 million people lost full time jobs in company downsizing.

Reality is a hazardous less stable new workplace.

Reality is ‘working hard’ does not guarantee you ‘something better.’

Reality is that you can paddle as hard as you can … and still sink.

But this new reality has not really changed our desires. Our desires, and optimism for what we want and feel we deserve, remain at the same levels as before … if not higher as we watch the top of the top <the richer than rich> become richer and we aim to be able to get to where they are if only we got ‘the break.’

I say all this so I can get past pure economics … and money.

Because while money is part of the issue it is more about desires <to have> and increasing levels of desire <increasingly more difficult & disappointing to fulfill>.

I want to get past economics and money because … as I stated earlier … this is all about someone screwing with our Hope.

And that, my friends, is unacceptable.

People are becoming furious with those who’ve hurt their hopes.

It leads to a “I would rather be right than listen. Heck. I would rather be angry than listen” attitude.

All driven by “I expected more for my life” or even worse … “I can’t picture a future for myself anymore.”

And it leads to a burning anger.

“I had hope … but it’s gone now. I don’t deserve to be disappointed in this way.”

So?

People get angry.

I believe so many people are angry because someone & someones <and society in some for or fashion> is screwing with their hope.

Loss of anything is a thoughtful topic … and when you make loss equal Hope … oh my.

Everyone always says that loss is natural but the truth is that when you are going through loss it is the most unnatural feeling in the world. And when it is Hope? Oh my double.

And it would be one thing if all this anger was limited to the fringes, but the anger <and the conspiracy theories and paranoia and everything attached to the anger> has become a pervasive thread in today’s world.

Once relegated to email chains and the corner of neighborhood bars and even some oddball blogs … anger has percolated up into the mainstream.

Which leads me to:

“Why should I be angry? It won’t change how you feel.” – unknown

Desire defines what we think we need. And often defines how we act. When we don’t get what we ‘desire’ <or expect … they can be interchangeable> it sometimes can bring us mentally to places we never thought we would ever go. It leads us to anger & disappointment.

Frankly … we expect to have Hope.

But simply being angry or disappointed doesn’t change the situation.

And <frankly again> … anger is simply a self-imposed trial.

Rarely will anger ever change how the other person feels or the situation.

Anger is a black hole.

A black hole where nothing exists … there is no past, present nor future in anger.

It would be silly of me to suggest that no one should ever feel anger … because it is a human thing to do.

But.

Think about this thought of ‘anger is a black hole.’

Think about it because after anger there is typically a need for some type of forgiveness to fill the hole and move on.

Maybe the mistake many of us make is to believe that we can leave the anger behind … we cannot … and probably will not. There will simply be a hole.

And holes need to be mended <or filled>.

I don’t have an answer of how one would ever fill up a black hole enough to insure that which has no past, present or future ends up having some meaning … but I could try and answer by saying that Hope is a pretty big expansive thing.

If society <or the world> stopped screwing with our Hope … and actually gave it back to us … well … we would still be angry <remnants remain> but Hope is pretty powerful.

Yet.

In the end.

Anger gains you nothing and costs you much.

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” – Buddha

That may sound like philosophical tripe in a very practical challenging society and world. But all this anger is burning us up from the inside out.

Not just individually … but culturally, societal and … well … whatever bigger entity you want to think of.

This anger is burning us all.

Look.

I began with this quote:

“Anger would be a waste of the moments we have and would make us weak in the face of the things yet to do.”

I explained the anger in today’s world.

Heck.

I even explained what would solve our anger.

But I imagine my real point is that no one should be able to steal your Hope.

In fact … no one CAN steal your Hope.

It’s yours.

If you lose your Hope you have no one else to blame but yourself.

—-

Q: do you get angry?
A: why should I be angry? Because someone believes a thing does not make it so.

There is no dignity in anger.

—-

There is no dignity in anger.

But people are feeling indignant about a situation in which they feel like they have little or no control over.

But <once again>.

You have control over your own Hope.

Me?

I feel like we are losing our dignity within all our anger.

We seem to be focused on tearing down ideas and thinking <and people> rather than fixing or improving upon ideas and thinking.